A Prize: A Michael Afton X Reader

Chapter 40: Fragile Things

POV: 1st - Mike
After the absolute mindfuck of about 30 minutes ago, I figured I had reached my quota for uncomfortable conversations for today. But then Henry pulled me aside into the kitchen. The two of us haven't really talked to each other in a very long time and this was probably not how either of us planned for this to be what broke that pattern. Sure, he congratulated me on being home and said hi to me the one time he called my dad, but an honest to God long conversation. Yeah, it's been a long time.
"You need to keep an eye on Y/N, I can't do anything about this. They clearly need some help to talk through this and it's probably best if that someone is their age," Henry said softly. He was lying of course, he was just scared to hurt them more then they were already hurt. I should know because I feel the same way.... Honesty, I feel like laughing cause if Y/N knew I was thinking like this, they would definitely punch my shoulder by now. They always hated being pitied...
Regardless, it was a pretty reasonable request. I mean I was planning to do that anyway, "Yeah, I will. Speaking of like checking up on someone.... How are you doing? ...... It's definitely cleaner in here..."
He looked around and gave a soft chuckle, "You can thank Y/N for that. I helped, but they really lead the charge. They're a good kid... Did you know about any of this, I mean obviously not this part, but..." I scratched the back of my neck, "I think they mentioned that they didn't have the closest relationship with their mom compared to their dad before, but that's about it. They were also super not touchy-feely, but..."
Henry nodded at me and fumbled with his next words, "I think I'm doing OK. I... I think I might even do some gardening tomorrow, who knows..." I paused for a moment, "Do you need any help? I mean... I can always just come over and like help you, you know?" He gave a small smile, "That would be nice." But then it faded, "I'm sorry for not being there for you..." I sighed as I put my hand on his shoulder, "Yeah, I am... sorry too."
Henry looked at me with wide eyes, "Michael, for wha-" I cut him off, "I wasn't there for you, I wasn't there when she-" Now it was my turn to get cut off by Henry, "You're just a kid... No one expected you to... Besides, you had to deal with poor Liz. I know the two of them were friends, a lot of children were friends with my daughter... It was the children who weren't her friends that were the problem, a problem that I should've noticed... I just wish I knew why..."
The events of Charlie's death were never fully understood. They found her body, unlike all the other children who went missing. We know she was sta- attacked by someone, but we have no idea who. They left no fingerprints, no footprints. It just rained too much. All we know was that some of the other kids decided to pull a prank on her and locked her outside, but not before covering the security puppet's box so that it couldn't get in the way. The security puppet was one of the most advanced robots Henry had ever made and it was built for the sole purpose of protecting her. Sure it also helped to keep track of other kids, but when it failed and ended up rusted, I'm not surprised he hid it away. The thing he built for her failed. He had failed her or at least that's what he believed. I for one didn't believe that it was his fault.
I looked at Henry with all the love and compassion that I could possibly give. Maybe I didn't understand before. But now, I know what it's like losing someone close to you and the kind of mindset it gives you. I know better now why he shut us out. Putting my hand on his shoulder, I gave him a small smile, "I'm not gonna just take care of Y/N, I'm going to take care of you too. You might not consider me real family because you're not really my uncle, but you're the only uncle I've ever known. And Charlie was basically my cousin." Henry's eyes got a bit watery, "And you're the only nephew, I have... And for the record, I never said I didn't see you as real family. In fact, I think, in general, I have trouble, realizing what's real or not. I get in my own head quite often." I kind of know what he's talking about. He's been carrying around that old ragdoll that used to belong to Charlie. Sometimes he would talk to it, he didn't have it around now, so hopefully that episode is over. And again, I have no room to judge. I would carry around his stupid Fredbear plush everywhere....
"So what kind of gardening, are we doing tomorrow anyway? You know besides cutting down your grass cause it looks like a jungle out there," he laughed as he gave out a small chuckle. He then stood up a little bit more straight, "Oh, those old rosebushes in front of the house, they haven't produced a flower since... Well... I think it's about time we cut the damn things down. Bill told me that he hates staring at them and I think he's right." "Bill" was what Henry called my dad when he was more relaxed, he hadn't done so in a bit. Honestly, it was kind of strange to see how my dad acted around Henry. It was like he was a completely different person. Henry would always try to accommodate my dad's ideas and even drop his projects to go help him, unless he was super busy. And my dad would spend hours with him.
I paused for a moment. I don't remember dad mentioning he came over to visit Henry. Even though they used to be super close and visit all the time, dad would always visit Henry even when he was supposed to do things with us. Recently, Henry has stopped interacting with almost everyone, even my own dad. I paused for a moment, trying to see if I could remember hearing anything about that. Then I quietly spoke, "Oh yeah, Y/N told me he came over while they were visiting... Hey wait, you said the roses were dead, right?"
Henry looked at me confused, "Yep, for at least over a year, why do you ask?" I scratched the back of my head, maybe I was remembering things wrong, "I would've sworn Y/N... I thought they said some thing about how it was sad that there's only like one rose in that big empty bush." Henry looked confused and shrug slightly, "I guess they miss saw. From the time, I lost my... I guess, I neglected the bushes and they just got sick because, ever since then, not a single yellow rose bloomed... Which is really a pity, we planted those yellow roses because we thought it would brighten up the yard..."

POV: 2nd
As you begin to finish up crying, you couldn't help but look out the window. You wanted to slam the curtain shut because of how humiliated you felt. But before you did anything like that, you stopped and smiled as you looked at the one white rose that stood at the edge of the bush, always facing the window. Although you paused for a moment, you would've sworn that this rose was only viewable from the front of the house and Henry's window, not the living room window.
This is not how your day should've went and you hated it. You looked at the rose, still misty and dripping water, as if it was crying against the window. You thought to yourself, "Oh what a lonely miserable flower you are, how dare I relate to you. The only thing worse that could happen today is if Michael's father showed up." Leaning against the window, you whispered quietly, "Why can't I be normal? Why am I always like this?" Suddenly you heard a sound from behind you.
Hearing Henry and Michael leave the kitchen, you straighten yourself up and turned around to look at them. The next hour or two are probably going to be a bit awkward, but you accepted that fact.
You turned around to look at the rose one last time subconsciously, but you squint as you couldn't find it. Huh... Regardless, it doesn't matter as the two walked out of the kitchen. Tomorrow is another day.